Mace thumbnail 1
Mace thumbnail 2
+4
images
On display
Image of Gallery in South Kensington

This object consists of 2 parts, some of which may be located elsewhere.

Mace

ca. 1696-1710 (made)
Place of origin
Rome (made)

Silver and gilded silver, Rome, 1691-6, maker's mark of Giovanni Giardini and control marks of the silversmith Andrea Pini (warden of the Rome assay office 1696-1710)

Object details

Categories
Metalwork
Christianity
Religion
Object type
Mace
Parts
This object consists of 2 parts.

  • Mace
  • Fragments
Materials and techniques
Silver
Silver-Gilt
Brief description
Silver and gilded silver, Rome, 1691-6, maker's mark of Giovanni Giardini and control marks of the silversmith Andrea Pini (warden of the Rome assay office 1696-1710)
Dimensions
    Marks and inscriptions
    (The shield of arms of Cardinal Oppizzoni has been subsequently applied over a monogram which, as seen from the back, appears to consist of the initials CCA, perhaps referring to Cardinal Caprara, papal legate to France at the time of Napoleon's coronation. The case is six-sided, covered with red leather decorated with wreaths and borders in gilt tooling. The hinged lid is stamped with the arms of Cardinal Oppizzoni three times repeated, ensigned with a cardinal's hat between cross-staff and crozier. The lining is of red leather. Iron key to case.)
    Gallery label
    (09.12.2015)
    Ceremonial mace for a cardinal
    1691–96

    This mace was made for a cardinal on his appointment and symbolises his authority. It weighs nearly ten kilograms and was carried during ceremonial processions by a special bearer. It would originally have borne the arms of the cardinal who owned it and of the pope who appointed him. Such maces were often re-used, with the arms changed to reflect their new ownership.

    Italy (Rome)

    By Giovanni Giardini

    Silver and gilded silver

    Given by Col. Fearon Tipping
    Object history
    The mace was presented to the Museum on 31 October, 1906, by Colonel W. Fearon Tipping, J.P., of Brasted Place, Brasted, Kent. The mace had been brought from France and purchased by Colonel Tipping, who understood it to have been used at the coronation of Napoleon. Written accounts of his coronation ceremonies in Paris and in Milan, however, do not record that the cardinals present carried maces (or had attendants carrying them).
    Subjects depicted
    Benedict
    Peter
    Pope Pius VII (Gregorio Barnaba Luigi Chiaramonti)
    Bibliographic references
    • Montagu, Jennifer. Catalogue entry, 'Ceremonial mace made for a cardinal'. In: Baroque 1620-1800. Style in the Age of Magnificence, ed. by Michael Snodin and Nigel Llewellyn, assisted by Joanna Norman. Catalogue of the exhibition held at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 4th April - 19th July 2009. London: V&A Publishing, 2009. ISBN 9781851775583
    • Oman, Charles. Italian secular silver in the Victoria and Albert Museum. Small picture book, Victoria and Albert Museum, no. 57. London: H.M.S.O., 1962.
    • Lo Bianco, Anna, et al. Il Settecento a Roma. Catalogue of the exhibition held at the Palazzo Venezia, Rome, 2005-2006. Milan: Silvana, 2005.
    • Montagu, J., Gold, silver, and bronze: metal sculpture of the Roman baroque. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1996. ISBN 0300063369
    • Hernmarck, C., The Art of the European Silversmith
    • Emperor Napoleon I, Documenti officiali relativi al nuovo Regno d'Italia e all'incoronazione di Napoleone Bonaparte, primo imperatore de' Francesi e re d'Italia. 2 vols. Milan: 1805.
    • Thiers (?) History of the Consulate and the Empire (vol V, p.205) Giardini, Giovanni, 'Promptuarium Artis Argentariae' (Storehouse of the Silversmith's Art), Rome, 1750 Titi, Filippo, Descrizione delle Pitture …. in Roma, Rome, 1763, pp.10, 20. Revista d'Arte, VIII, Florence, 1912, pp.128-29 Grigioni, Carlo, Giovanni Giardini, Forlí, 1963
    Collection
    Metalwork Collection
    Accession number
    646-1906

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    Record createdOctober 26, 2005
    Record URL
    https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O117889/mace/
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